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 Claudia Roden

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Salvia




Posts : 166
Join date : 2012-12-29
Age : 36
Location : Wales, UK

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PostSubject: Claudia Roden   Claudia Roden EmptySat Feb 09, 2013 5:01 pm

Anyone else here who's a fan of the cookery books of Claudia Roden?
I had her 'Arabesque' (about Moroccan, Libanese and Turkish food) since a long time already, and now I also have 'The book of Jewish food'. Which I personally think is great! It features many many recipes from all over the world (jewish dishes from India, anyone? Or from Latin America?) but my personal favourites are the maghrebi/middle eastern dishes :)

Yesterday evening we had mezze here, and I had made two batches of 'borekas' (turkish/greek empanadas): one with spinach and lemon with pine-nuts on top, and one with minced beef, iranian 'meat herbs' (no idea what's in it, there's cinnamon and a lot of other stuff, had bought them lpong ago at an iranian shop), onion and zatar on top. The pie dough I had from the Book of Jewish food (it contains only flour, water, olive oil and a pinch of salt), the spinach filling from Arabesque and the meat filling with zatar from my own imagination. I had never thought of making pasties myself - that's why I love this book, it gives me plenty of ideas. I also made some meatballs in tomato sauce -didn't know before that this was a jewish dish?
Also found recipes for dishes I have tasted and I know about, but never prepared myself. And then there's all the background information on communities all over the world and their history...

So... I hope being enthousiastic about a product doesn't count as spam, but I wondered who also loves this writer and what are your favourite recipes :)
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Dena

Dena


Posts : 678
Join date : 2011-09-05
Age : 41

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PostSubject: Re: Claudia Roden   Claudia Roden EmptySat Feb 09, 2013 9:24 pm

Food is not spam (nor is spam actually food Razz )! I'll have to look for it. I have several limitations in diet (no meat, no gluten) but it does sound interesting.
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Salvia




Posts : 166
Join date : 2012-12-29
Age : 36
Location : Wales, UK

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PostSubject: Re: Claudia Roden   Claudia Roden EmptySun Feb 10, 2013 7:52 am

What IS spam? A kind of corned beef, no? Sorry for being an ignorant european Razz
-edit: googled it. yuck. I can't imagine how that stuff must stink - let's not talk about spam in a topic on FOOD -

I think the jewish cookbook is excellent for no-meat and no-gluten actually; there are all the dairy an parve recipes, and many cookies and cakes based on almond meal, which is, not being actually 'real' flour, gluten free (and kosher for pesah, detail Razz ).

And....I found a recipe for seviche! My aunt made that, but I'd never asked for the recipe, and here is one Very Happy
Seviche is white fish (my aunt used cod) marinated in lemon/lime juice to cure. It becomes 'cooked' without fire, just by the acid juice. Claudia Roden says two hours of marinating is enough - I remember that it should be overnight. But I am going to try it!

Claudia Roden's newest book is 'the book of spanish food' but I don't think I'm going to buy it, I already have an excellent spanish vookbook: 'Moro' by Sam&Sam Clark. This is actually a cookbook of the 'Spanish and South-Mediterranean kitchen' and it contains the best recipe for falafel I've come across until now -falafels that don't fall apart when you fry them! Joy! The secret: and egg and some flour in the mix - matzah meal should do the trick too :)
Spanish food may be quite challenging to cook if you don't eat porc and shellfish (I don't and I'm sure most of you don't either); it takes a spaniard to create a stew with porc AND shrimps. This must have something to do with spanish history: when faced with the inquisition, there is no better way to prove that you're SO not jewish...

Most recipes (even the sweet!) call for porc fat, but I've found they work out just as fine with olive oil. And most porc recipes work with veal, too. And the south- mediterranean stuff is great (and being muslim, they're porc-free, and there are many vegetarian and even vegan dishes - it is this cookbook that has made me cook many legume dishes, now I make them up myself), and so are the pies: 'torta the naranjas sevillanas' has become a classic I make for friends :) And manchego with membrillo is one of those small things that can make one's day, but I'm not sure whether a kasher version of manchego cheese exists. It is close to parmesan, anyway, which comes in kasher versions. And grilled fish in moroccan marinade is something you really have to taste Very Happy

Foodie and proud of it ;)
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Debbie B.

Debbie B.


Posts : 373
Join date : 2011-09-05
Location : Chicagoland

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PostSubject: Re: Claudia Roden   Claudia Roden EmptyMon Feb 11, 2013 1:52 am

Salvia wrote:

Most recipes (even the sweet!) call for porc fat, but I've found they work out just as fine with olive oil. And most porc recipes work with veal, too. And the south- mediterranean stuff is great (and being muslim, they're porc-free, and there are many vegetarian and even vegan dishes - it is this cookbook that has made me cook many legume dishes, now I make them up myself), and so are the pies: 'torta the naranjas sevillanas' has become a classic I make for friends :) And manchego with membrillo is one of those small things that can make one's day, but I'm not sure whether a kasher version of manchego cheese exists. It is close to parmesan, anyway, which comes in kasher versions. And grilled fish in moroccan marinade is something you really have to taste Very Happy

For meat dishes, the traditional Ashkenazi fat to use is "schmaltz" = rendered chicken fat. It is a closer approximation to pork fat ("lard") since it is also solid at room temperature, unlike olive oil. For pareve dishes, I use pareve margarine for a fat that is solid at room temperature. Shortening is another pareve fat that can be used.

Veal is a good pork substitute, however given the extremely cruel way that veal calves are treated in the US, veal was the first food I stopped eating voluntarily (as a teen when I found out about the cruelty). I continued to eat it if served as a guest, but I did not buy it or order it. I was disappointed to find out that kosher veal in the US did not have to be raised in a humane manner.

So I usually substitute chicken or tofu (for a vegetarian version) for dishes that originally used pork.

There is indeed kosher manchego: http://www.markys.com/caviar/customer/spanish-sheep-cheese-manchego-7-oz.-kosher.html
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Salvia




Posts : 166
Join date : 2012-12-29
Age : 36
Location : Wales, UK

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PostSubject: Re: Claudia Roden   Claudia Roden EmptyMon Feb 11, 2013 6:15 am

Rendered chicken fat doesn't sound very yummy to me....that is the stuff that is on top of your chicken soup the day after you made it? Wouldn't think of eating that solid. But then, of course it melts and gets mixed etc. One has to try surely. But I just have the habitude to put olive oil in virtually everything...

Were I live we have the good fortune that grass-fed veal is the norm, and when you don't buy your meat at the supermarket you can be quite sure the calve has been outside and had an acceptable live. This is a requirement of 'label rouge' meat, the kind most butchers sell. I have heard about the cruel circumanstances for veal in other countries, I wouldn't like to eat that indeed....
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